About 15 Airplanes Expected To Be Parked Indefinitely

An e-mail forwarded to ANN Tuesday indicates that the 67 pilots
who retired from American Airlines in November have suddenly become
creditors in the airlines' Chapter 11 filing announced Tuesday
morning.

In the internal communications between pilots, ANN has learned
that new CEO Tom Horton contacted APA President Capt. David Bates
(pictured below) to say the airline plans to park about 15
aircraft ... mostly B767-200s and 757s ... as the result of the
filing. Capt. John Hale, VP for Flight Operations for AA, also
called Capt. Bates to say base closings could be expected next year
at Washington Regan National Airport, Boston's Logan International,
Lambert Field in St. Louis, and San Francisco International.

The e-mail goes on to say that while the lump sum checks
distributed to AA pilots who retired in October are "viable" under
their defined benefit plan, the 67 pilots who retired in November
have become creditors to the airline, and will have to get in line
in bankruptcy court with other creditors to receive all, or some
portion of the payments they were promised. Our source says that
one of the reasons AMR filed on Tuesday was to "preempt any mass
exodus in December."

Our source, an American pilot who has already retired, goes on
to say that the conversation between Capt's Bates and Hale turned
to what was described as, "threats against employees if any action
was taken."

In a posting on the public portion of the Allied Pilots
Association website, Capt. Bates said "While today’s
(Tuesday's) news was not entirely unexpected, it is nevertheless
disappointing that we find ourselves working for an airline that
has lost its way. In 2003 American Airlines’ pilots provided
management with significant cost savings that were characterized as
essential to avoiding bankruptcy at that time. We agreed to
sacrifice based on the expectation that our airline would regain
its leadership position. What has transpired since has been nothing
short of a “perfect storm.” During restructuring, we
must bargain effectively under duress and implement a plan that
highlights our pilots’ leadership and participation. Our goal
must be to build working relationships with other creditors and
investors to position our airline for a better future."